Nine Eyed Monsters
by Nurse Betty Page
Summary: When the Doctor finds an ancient colony of creatures have been disturbed from their deep water home, he plans to capture them before their hunger drives them to attack humans. But an 11 year old boy named Tommy is determined to come along for the adventure - then events take a dangerous turn, and the Doctor must ensure the boy's safety as he tries to save an ancient race.
1. Chapter 1

**Nine Eyed Monsters**

 **Summary:**

 **When an ordinary family home is disturbed by a strange creature that only eleven year old Tommy believes in, the Doctor intervenes to save an ancient race of eel fish that have been driven from their deep water habitat. But the creatures, which feed by night and are confused by their strange surroundings are starving, making the task _much_ more dangerous than the Doctor first imagined.**

 **Added to this is the fact that eleven year old Tommy is determined to catch one of the creatures to prove to his mother that his tales of monsters are true, and soon the Doctor finds he is caught in a situation where he must capture the colony of monsters whilst keeping safe a boy who is determined to come along for the adventure...**

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 **Rated : K**

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 **Warnings:No warnings in this fic, apart from scary monsters - lamprey style creatures are rather ugly! :-)**

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 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. I write for the love of the fandom.**

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Chapter 1

The sky was black and the stars were shining brightly in the clear night sky.

Downstairs the TV had been silenced and then his mother had come upstairs and looked in on him, and eleven year old Tommy Taylor had pretended to be asleep. He was in bed in his room, still dressed with the covers pulled up to his chin because he wanted to get up and find a monster. And even if he didn't find it, he was ready to run in case _it_ came after him. He wouldn't be sleeping that night any way, and he knew it:

 _He couldn't sleep because the moon was full._

It was up there in the sky, full and round and shining and the silver light of it frightened him because he knew what it meant:

 _It was coming back._

He didn't know what it was, but he had heard it, splashing about in the bathroom. He had heard a thump as it slithered out – from the toilet? Or from the plug hole in the bath? It always came with the sound of water.

He didn't like the sound of water any more, because he imagined _it_ slipping about inside it. And it was heavy, and it crept and it threw a shadow - but every time he dared to look out of the crack in the door, he never quite caught sight of it, because it shrank away.

Tommy had vowed to catch it, but the darkness was too deep and he felt too alone and no matter how many times he made his plans, he always turned on the light, and then he saw nothing was there.

 _But he could still hear it._

He could hear it right now, and he was ready to go and confront it.

But he was too scared because now it was slipping down the stairs, and soon...

 _There it was._

A thump as the kitchen door was pushed open, the sound of something raiding the fridge, like something was _so_ hungry as it spilled out the contents that it didn't even know what it was looking for. He heard a crash and wished his mum would wake up, but she was a heavy sleeper and perhaps it might actually decide to eat _her_ if it saw her – he didn't know where that thought had come from, and it was enough to cancel out his plans to hunt the creature in the dark.

But he would hunt it, because in the morning, when his mum saw the mess she would go mad. She would _kill_ him.

He was angry with it now, because it was responsible for him being called a liar, it was to blame for his mother blaming him for the mess that _thing_ made.

 _No more of it._

His mind was made up:

 _In the morning, he would catch it, and he would show it to her._

 _He was going to catch that thing even if it killed him..._

* * *

The Doctor was alone in his Tardis, watching a monitor on the console as it zoomed into the place where he needed to be. He turned pale blue eyes to the view of space and its inky starry wonderland, and there in the middle of it all, was his favourite planet:

Earth held so many memories he was surprised he didn't when asked say his home planet was Earth instead of Gallifrey. He loved the place so much, and the humans that lived there too. He was sure he would never be able to put into words how much those humans meant to him, and although the place also carried with it memories of the loss of those who had been close to him, it also held such fond memories too that it warmed both his hearts.

And that was why the prospect of chasing out a colony of hungry ancient creatures that had been disturbed from their deep water habitat and now posed a risk, was something he felt he had to get involved with. He had been in the habit of scanning the earth for anomalies for centuries – and this time, it was an environmental problem, and caused by humans, too – but that wasn't going to put him off, even though water and mud and giant nine eyed eel fish were _not_ his idea of a great way to spend a day.

The Doctor took note of the location and prepared to land.

As he threw a lever he thought again about the mud and the water, and guessed he had come up against much worse and if things got rough, the only casualty would most likely be his suit, and as much as he didn't relish the scarlet lining of his jacket getting soaked in mud, he didn't like the idea of those nine eyed creatures turning to humans for their food supply, either.

The Tardis was heading for Earth.

He felt sure by the time it landed, he would have thought up a plan to avoid damage to his suit, because this would get messy. _As for the nine eyed monsters, he had that one covered because he already had a plan.._.

* * *

" _What have you done?"_

Tommy's heart sank as he made his way down the stairs. This was no way to start the school holidays. It had trashed the kitchen, and he was going to get the blame again...

As her son walked into the kitchen, Chelle Taylor glared at her son, who stood there with a sad look in his dark eyes. The way he stood, the way his dark hair caught the light and showed up faint highlights of reddish brown reminded her of her husband, he looked just like him, and she wished he was here now, because he would have known what to do...

"Don't tell me you didn't do it," she said, dumping crushed yogurt pots into the bin and then turning for the tea towel to wipe her hands, only to see the tea towel on the floor in a puddle of milk.

"But mum it wasn't me!" he protested.

Chelle turned to the sink, washed her hands, and then in despair wiped them down her jeans as she looked to the mess on the floor and then to the open fridge where nothing was left, and then back to her son again.

"Are you doing this for attention? "

Tommy's eyes widened in protest.

"No, mum! I told you, it _wasn't_ me!"

The look in her green eyes hardened.

"Tommy, this behaviour has to _stop_! It's not my fault your dad has to work abroad. I didn't want him to go either!"

" _But I didn't do it!"_ he yelled, and the anger in her eyes burned deeper.

"You do this every four weeks, Tommy!"

He glanced to the now clear summer skies, looking blue and cloudless through the kitchen window. He knew she wouldn't listen, but she had brought him up to tell the truth, and he was going to do it even though it seemed pointless... if he kept on, maybe one day she _would_ believe him...

"It happens when the moon is full! It was full last night and I heard it coming!"

She shook her head.

" _Stop_ your silly stories. You're making me angry, you're driving your friends away too with your stupid stories about goblins or ghosts or -"

"It's a _monster_ ," he corrected her, and she gave a sigh of frustration.

"Tommy," she said stepping closer, "Monsters don't exist. You're eleven! You're getting older, you're too old to tell stupid stories to cover up for misbehaving!"

She paused, trying not to think about the cost of replacing the wrecked contents of the fridge, then she ran her fingers through her dark shoulder length hair and gave another sigh.

"I'll go shopping and buy some more food. And _you_ will stay here and clean up this mess!"

" _But it wasn't me!"_

Hurt reflected in his words, but she just shook her head again.

" _And_ you're grounded."

"But mum -"

"You are grounded for the whole of half term. No friends round, no playing outside and no treats! I have to put a _stop_ to this and if you stay in for a week, maybe you'll learn your lesson. There are no monsters, there are no things creeping about in the night wrecking the kitchen. _It's you_. Now clean up that mess - I want it done by the time I get back!"

And she snatched up her bag and her car keys and headed for the door.

Tommy stood there looking about the kitchen, his mother had already picked up a couple of broken plates, but there was cake up the wall and milk all over the place and the butter would take ages to clean up.

He gave a heavy sigh and started picking up everything that wasn't stuck to the floor, a crushed butter tub, squashed cartons of milk and scattered salad. This was turning out to be the worst half term ever.

Now he _really_ hated that monster.

 _Now he wanted to kill it..._

* * *

Chelle had arrived at the supermarket, parked the car and got out, still in a bad mood over the way her son, who was old enough to know better, had trashed the kitchen yet again.

And then she felt it again, an itch that was driving her mad. She scratched at her arm, looked down at it and frowned as she saw a rash developing. It looked like bites.

She wasn't going to waste time wondering if it was anything to do with the blankets Tommy had used in the garden to build a tent and then brought back into the house, because there was no point wondering about it while the _biters_ were hopping about the soft furnishings and waiting to strike again. She blamed the field at the back of the house, the tall grass. Full of things that bit...

Chelle took her phone from her bag and did a quick search for pest control numbers. Then she hit a link to website, but then her phone rang.

She answered it without checking the caller's number.

"If that mess isn't cleared up you're in trouble young man! And I don't want to hear about monsters _ever_ again, okay? Have you got that?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Hello Mrs Taylor," said a man with a Scottish accent, "Pest control here - I understand you've got a problem?"

"How did you -"

"You called my number just now?"

"No?"

"Well, I got yours. I'm the Doctor. That's what they call me. So what's the problem, do you have fleas?"

 _Fleas._ The mention of the word irritated her.

"No me personally, _no_. But I think there could be some in the house. I keep itching and getting rashes."

"It's more likely to be coming from the bathroom."

"Excuse me?" she said as annoyance sounded in her voice, "Are you saying my house is dirty?"

He laughed softy.

"No I'm saying at this time of year things can fly in from all sorts of places - or crawl or creep in...and if they have parasites attached, those parasites may not even be dangerous to humans _but_ they can cause skin irritation if the host has been in contact with the bath or the towels."

"The towels? That's it, I'm washing them all as soon as I get home - even the clean ones in the linen cupboard -"

"Just don't panic about this," he replied, "I can come over around mid day and take a look around. I promise I can get rid of your problem, it's common at this time of year."

Chelle briefly hoped his rates were reasonable.

"Is this expensive?"

"Not at all," he replied, "You're my one hundredth customer this summer, that means for you my services are free."

"I'll give you my address."

"I already have it. I'll see you then."

The call ended.

Chelle looked at her phone with a confused expression.

"I didn't give you my address..." she murmured, and then she thought of everything that needed replacing in the kitchen, and walked towards the supermarket as she cast her thoughts back to her son and hoped he was busy scrubbing up the butter from the floor.

* * *

The kitchen floor was clean.

There was no butter left, no slippery marks on the lino, everything was spotless. Tommy had even cleaned out the mess left in the fridge. Now it stood white and bright...and empty.

He balled his hand into a fist as his anger rose and he thought of the creature that had wrecked the kitchen.

 _No more of it._

 _This was war._

He left the kitchen and ran upstairs to his room, grabbed a note book from his desk and turned the pages until he found the notes he had made entitled _Battle Plan_. He scanned though it and then grabbed his supplies:

A stick and a string to hold open the toilet lid, so he could bring it crashing down to trap the thing as it climbed out - and a hammer, stolen from the garden shed to bash its brains in...

He was going to do this. He was going to catch it today, while he was safe and it was daylight...

* * *

Moments later Tommy was in the bathroom, the stick holding the toilet seat open as he clutched at the string and cautiously looked into the toilet:

 _Nothing._

Then he heard a pop and let go of the string and turned to the bath.

A slippery, grey thing was squelching against the plug hole from the inside. It looked rounded and shiny and far too big to be a slug. His eyes widened as he looked down at it, and then it shrank away into the darkness, to the place where the bath water went when the plug came out. He backed away and made a mental note to be sure the plug was in very, very tightly the next time he had a bath. Then he looked back at the toilet.

 _Still nothing._

He picked up the string and decided he would have to wait. Whatever was hiding wouldn't come out now. Maybe it didn't like the light...

He would have to try to catch it later, when it was dark, even though the thought of the dark and what ever that thing was he had seen in the plug hole had scared him. But that had looked tiny, and the thing he had heard moving about the house had been much bigger...

 _There was more than one monster?_

The thought made him gasp, just as the front door closed and his mother called his name. It gave him a jolt and Tommy accidentally tugged on the string and the lid of the toilet slammed shut.

"What are you doing up there?" his mum called out.

"Nothing!" he called back, gathering up the stick and the string and the hammer quickly.

He ran from the bathroom to the bedroom and hid the monster trap under his bed, and then he walked back to the top of the stairs and looked down.

"Thank you for cleaning the kitchen," his mum said, "When I've finished putting all the new food away I'll make breakfast. And you're _still_ grounded. I want you to think about what you've done for the rest of the week, okay?"

There was no point arguing about it because he knew he couldn't win.

Instead Tommy just nodded, as he silently wished _someone_ could be on his side in this, someone who would believe him.

And then the doorbell rang.

His mum turned away and went down the hall to answer the door, and Tommy stood at the top of the stairs listening. And as the visitor spoke, he got the strangest feeling that maybe there _was_ someone who would believe him. He didn't know why, but he felt it as he heard his voice for the first time:

" _Mrs Taylor?"_ he heard him say, _"Nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor, I'm here to help..."_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I hope you can help," Chelle said as the Doctor stepped inside.

She closed the front door and Tommy walked down the stairs, saw the tall, grey haired man who had walked in, took in the sight of his spray gun and protective clothing and made a guess.

"Are you the _flea man_? We had one last year too when mum got bitten."

Chelle turned to her son and shot him a look that said the kitchen incident was not forgotten.

"Sorry about that," she said, "My son didn't mean to be rude."

"I'm not offended," he replied, and he looked to Tommy, "They call me the Doctor. I'm here to exterminate a pest problem."

"And _you_ should be up in your room, Tommy," his mum reminded him, and he gave a sigh, turned away and trudged back up the stairs.

* * *

"What did he do wrong?" the Doctor asked.

A flash of anger came and went from Chelle's eyes.

"He makes up stories about monsters. Don't worry about it. Maybe you should start in the front room. I want everything sprayed -"

"Maybe you should tell me about the monsters," the Doctor replied, and then he smiled, "I was a boy once - a long time ago - and I remember I loved making up stories, too."

She paused, looked into his pale blue eyes and wondered why this stranger was so easy to talk to. But after the morning she had suffered with the kitchen getting wrecked, she guessed it couldn't hurt to talk to someone who was more than willing to listen.

"It's since his dad got a job working overseas – Tommy's changed, it's like he's crying out for attention. I don't know why, he gets everything he wants -"

"What does Tommy do?" the Doctor asked her.

She gestured to the front room, and the Doctor followed her in, where she pushed the door closed but kept her voice low.

"Every month on a full moon he gets up in the middle of the night and wrecks the kitchen. He takes everything out of the fridge and smashes it. Then he tells me a monster did it in the middle of the night!"

" _Maybe it did."_

"What?" she said in surprise.

The Doctor shrugged.

"I'm just saying, children have big imaginations. We forget how it used to be when we grow up. We lose that scope to see beyond the ordinary."

"And I don't know why I'm telling the exterminator all of this," she said, sounding weary, "I guess I've just had enough of it. Six months this has been going on, six months of lies from my son and him vandalising the kitchen in the middle of the night. It _has_ to stop."

There was a look in her eyes that said she was afraid for her son. He also knew at a glance that if Chelle had ever believed in the existence of creatures outside of the ordinary, she had packed that away a long time ago.

"Can I see your rash?" he asked her, "If you don't mind showing me?"

"Sure," she replied, and turned her arm over.

The Doctor glanced at it and then his eyes turned upward to the ceiling as he thought about where he needed to be.

"I really need to take a look in the bathroom first," he told her, "I don't think any of my bug spray will do any good down here. You look tired. Why don't you go and make a cup of tea and sit down? Don't worry about me, I can handle everything."

He smiled again, and she agreed at once.

"I'll welcome the rest," she replied, "The bathroom is upstairs, the third door on the right."

Then she left the room and headed for the kitchen.

* * *

The Doctor walked to the bottom of the stairway and looked up, knowing his bug spray would be useless, but he had all he needed to draw out the creatures in his pocket - alien technology he really couldn't let her see, so it was a good thing that she was out of the way...

But as he climbed the stairway, instinct began to creep over him that this would be a little more tricky than he first thought. It was just a feeling, but one he had learned to listen to long ago...

By the time he got to the top of the stairway and looked to the bathroom door, he paused for a moment, feeling tense as he held his breath and then let it out slowly as he hoped the ancient colony of creatures were not _too_ hungry. Going by what he had picked up on the scanner they looked to be very active, which meant they were offspring – which considering the species, could be very lively indeed:

 _Lively and hungry and far from home and just about ready to devour anything..._

Tommy was hiding in the bath when the door swung open, he was out of sight but the string that led from the stick on the propped open toilet seat to the boy who was hiding was pretty obvious.

The Doctor put down his exterminator spray and as Tommy got up and climbed out of the bath still holding on to the string, he saw what _else_ he had in his hand and then looked at him with a worried expression.

"I can understand you wanting to catch a monster with a stick and some string," he said, "But why the _hammer_ , Tommy?"

He looked up at the Doctor and the TimeLord saw real fear in his eyes.

"I don't think you're here about fleas," he said in a low voice.

"And I don't think you are making up stories about a monster," the Doctor replied, "I've seen all sorts of things in my rather long life, and if you think you hear something splashing and slipping and sliding and shifting about in the dark, and you think it's a creature, I think you could well be right."

The boy's eyes widened as he looked at the Doctor in surprise.

"You believe me?"

"Of course I do," the Doctor replied, "But you didn't answer my question."

Tommy's eyes clouded with confusion.

"About what?"

"About the hammer."

"It's part of my monster trap."

The doctor looked at the objects Tommy was holding.

"Let me see...the stick is to prop the toilet seat open, the string is to tug on it to trap the creature as it climbs out...but what is the hammer for?"

Tommy looked up at him with resentment burning in his eyes.

" _To kill it."_

"Why would you want to do that?" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Because it wrecks the house and my mum blames me."

The Doctor leant forward, eye level with the boy.

"It's called a Syrret Corrinth, its part of an ancient species that were here before the lamprey eels – and they have been around for a _very_ long time. They survived the ice age, they out lived the dinosaurs and survived deep in lakes and rivers. They are so old and so well hidden that no one knows they still exist."

"So how come you know?" Tommy asked him suspiciously.

The Doctor straightened up.

"Because I'm the Doctor," he said, "I know a lot of things. Most importantly, I know _you_ have no business attacking one of those creatures with a hammer! Its a baby, the adults spawn their young and then die. And it's not the only one that's found its way into the suburbs...fracking destroyed its natural habitat and its whole colony had to leave, they went up stream. They followed some kind of drainage system to get here. Your house looks quite old, do you know when it was built?"

Tommy shook his head.

"Well it looks like it was built around nineteen thirty to me," the Doctor replied, "And if there's an old drainage system around here, that explains how it found its way from there into your plumbing system."

Tommy thought about it.

"Where would the drainage thing be?"

"Outside under the ground of course! Think, have you ever heard your parents mention anything about a deep ditch near here?"

"No..." then he remembered something, "Yes! There's a scary tunnel that runs through the garden, dad found it when he was digging to lay a base for the garden shed. It was this hole in the ground and a big steep drop and I saw like a sort of tunnel, with concrete and some water in it? Is _that_ what you mean?"

The Doctor smiled.

"That's exactly what I mean!" he said excitedly, "Thank you Tommy – that's all I need to know. And don't worry about next full moon – they only seek to feed once a month, the poor things must be starving. But I can take it from here."

He saw disappointment in Tommy's eyes.

"But I want to _catch_ one!"

"And do what, bash its brains in?"

"Why not, it _is_ a monster!"

The Doctor gave a sigh.

"Humans," he muttered, and then he addressed the boy who had no understanding of the bigger picture, because clearly, no one else ever could set the record straight on this subject for him:

"Just because something is scary looking, or plain ugly, it _doesn't_ make it bad. I've met a race of creatures that look like something out of a nightmare - what you would definitely call a monster - and all they want to do is help and serve others – they're gentle souls called the Ood. I've also met another race with gleaming, very shiny silver bodies that look like mere robots, and they are one of the most evil species I've ever met – the Cybermen. Looks can be deceptive. _Not all monsters are evil and not all that is evil looks like a monster. Don't judge a book by its cover, Tommy. You humans make that mistake too often._ "

Tommy was thinking. He fell silent, frowned as he considered all the Doctor had said, and then asked a question.

"So what are these Syrret Corrinth, what do they look like?"

The Doctor cast him a knowing glance.

"I know what you think they look like. Slimy, huge mouth, big teeth?"

He nodded.

"And you're right," the Doctor added, "Like a lamprey but a bigger mouth and razor sharp teeth and a spiky fin that runs along its back. Ugly creature but harmless in its proper environment. And that is what your creature looks like, not so much a nine eyed eel as a nine eyed monster. That's what they used to call lampreys many years ago - nine eyed eels. "

"Is it harmless, then?"

"Ah, well that's a bit tricky..." the Doctor paused for thought, scratched the back of his neck and then looked down at Tommy.

" _We should be kind to them."_

"You're lying. They _are_ dangerous!"

"No I'm just pointing out they are _potentially_ dangerous if I don't remove them. They don't know what to eat, they've never been taught, there's no food supply. They usually eat microorganisms whilst burrowed in lake and river beds - but these were spawned and then forced out, so they don't know what to eat and everything they try makes them feel sick. A couple of them have been finding there way up from the drainage system and into your house, hence the mess in the kitchen. They don't eat anything, they just trash it because it's not their kind of food. It's a good thing really or they'd _all_ be coming up from under the ground."

Tommy's eyes widened in fright.

"And then what?" he whispered.

 _Eat humans_ , the Doctor thought grimly as he forced a smile.

"And then you'd have funny looking creatures coming for tea, wouldn't you!" he said, but the boy still looked worried.

"You said something I don't get. You said _humans_ like you're not."

"Not what?" he asked innocently, but this kid was bright and missed nothing as he gave him a look that demanded the truth.

"Okay," the Doctor admitted, "I'm not from this planet. I'm from a place a long way from Earth, called Gallifrey. I hope that doesn't make me a monster too – I'm keeping my eye on that hammer of yours!"

"I wouldn't hurt _you_!" Tommy said in alarm, "I'm not a psycho!"

"Like I said," he reminded him, "You can't judge a book by its cover but for the record, I'm _not_ evil. If I was, I wouldn't be here to help a dying species."

Then the Doctor went over to the widow, opened it up and looked out into the garden.

"Where's the drainage ditch?"

Tommy was beside him at once pointing next to the shed.

"Are we going to dig it up?"

The Doctor gave a sigh and turned to him with an _I-don't-think-so_ expression.

"No, I just needed to know the exact location in relation to the house. Now I know it all makes sense and I can go away and sort this out. Thanks for your help, Tommy. And you won't have to worry about monsters any more, I'm going to take them all away."

And he picked up his exterminating equipment and left the room.

Tommy turned sharply, watching him leave.

* * *

" _Wait!"_ he called.

The Doctor had reached the top of the stairs, and he turned back as Tommy ran to catch up with him.

"What now?" he grumbled, feeling his patience starting to wear thin.

"I want to help!"

"You can _help_ buy throwing away that monster trap and putting the hammer back in the garden shed where it belongs. And remember what I said about not judging by appearance. That's all. I have to go."

" _Is it all done?"_

Tommy stepped out of sight as his mum looked up the stairs.

"Yes, all taken care of," the Doctor replied as he made his way down to meet her, "I've got rid of the problem. But if I were you I'd wash the towels and clean the bathroom because you're clearly sensitive to irritation from the harmless parasites the host carried."

"What host?" she asked, "You mean something that came in was carrying something _else_?"

The Doctor walked with her towards the front door and smiled as he reached out to open it.

"That's exactly what I mean – the _Siphonaptera._ "

"What's that?" she asked in alarm, and he quickly put her straight on it before she started imagining monster invasions of strangely named biting bugs:

"It's a nursery rhyme, often referred to simply as Fleas: _Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, and little fleas have lesser fleas, and so, ad infinitum._ Consider your problem solved. And don't be too hard on young Tommy, boys that age can't help having an imagination. Goodbye, Mrs Taylor."

And then he left the house and walked away without looking back, silently making his plans to remove the creatures when night fell.

But if he had looked back, if he had turned his head and looked over his shoulder and up at the bedroom window, he would have seen Tommy standing there watching him leave, and he would have seen the look in they boy's eyes, he would have known determination burned in his gaze - because he had already made up his mind to watch out for the Doctor, who he knew would be coming back, and when he did, he wanted to go with him and find out _exactly_ what these creatures looked like...

He also had many questions too – because the Doctor was from another world. He wanted to know about space and his travels, and he wanted to see his ship. He wanted to know everything and tonight, he was going to watch and wait, because this time he wasn't laying a trap for a monster, he was going to follow a man from outer space instead...

* * *

 _When night fell, the Doctor was ready._

He made his way back to the house, went around the alley and let himself in using his sonic screwdriver to pop the lock on the back gate. The time was just about to hit the witching hour and the moon was part covered by cloud as here and there breaks showed through an inky sky where starlight twinkled. The street was silent, the lights were all out in the houses, most importantly, the lights in Tommy's house were out - and the Doctor was relieved about that, because the _last_ thing he wanted was to go under the ground, be confronted by a colony of starving creatures and find an eleven year old kid had decided to join him... this was potentially dangerous, a lot more than he had let on to Tommy, simply because of how _hungry_ those creatures were...

He carefully set the sonic screwdriver on the right setting and pointed it downwards and then activated it, watching as it gave off a low buzz and the ground began to shake and then dip and then the the earth ran downwards, like sand through an hourglass.

As he watched the soil slip down into the hole, he turned his wrist slightly, directing the flow of the manipulated earth to make a slope, and then he switched off the screwdriver, put it in his pocket and carefully began to climb down the slope, into darkness underground, deeper and deeper still until he was at least nine feet below. Then he looked about at the strips of light that lined the tunnel whilst above, a ceiling of earth was decorated with the roots of trees and shrubs that poked through like old bones breaking through soil.

" _What are those strips of light on the floor?"_ asked a voice behind him.

The Doctor had been busy looking ahead through the gloom, working out where to step and how to do it carefully as he made his way along the tunnel, and he answered the question with his gaze still set towards the dim distant end where the drainage ditch turned.

"That's the skin of the creatures. They shed their skin on a regular basis as they grow, leaving behind a phosphorous essence, which glows in the dark..."

Then his eyes widened as he realised who he was talking to. The Doctor turned around, and there was Tommy, in the tunnel behind him.

The boy looked up at him with no hint of apology in his eyes.

"I just wanted to see them," he said.

And then from far up the other end of the tunnel, there came a screech and the sound of something rushing through the shallow water.

They both turned to see a large, dark, shadowy mass rushing towards them and in the glow of the phosphorus light it looked slippery, its spiny fins bumped against the earthen ceiling making dirt scatter downwards. Its mouth was open showing a circular ring of sharp teeth as many dark eyes, small as pin pricks shone black as night.

 _And it was coming straight at them._

As Tommy froze in terror, the Doctor looked to the beast as it lunged forwards, rushing closer by the second as it screeched again. It was then the Doctor decided to skip the lecture about how Tommy really shouldn't have followed him into this place, because it was too late for that now...

" _There it is Tommy,"_ he said as he reached for his hand and prepared to tell him to run, _"That's what it looks like. That's your nine eyed monster..."_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As the creature came rushing at them and earth scattered from above and water splattered out hitting the muddy floor of the tunnel, the Doctor grabbed his hand.

" _Run!"_ he yelled, and Tommy froze, his eyes wide as he stared at the beast that screeched again as it rushed closer.

" _I said, run!"_

He tugged on the boy's hand and turned and ran, and Tommy stumbled after him.

"We can't run...not this way...it goes back to my house!" he said breathlessly as he ran faster to keep up, clinging to the Doctor's hand as he didn't dare to look back.

The tunnel filled with the sound of the creature's screeching, and then the Doctor felt a sharp tug as his arm was jerked back violently and the pop he felt in his shoulder registered as burning pain as a weight crashed on top of him and knocked him hard to the ground.

He wanted to pass out but Tommy yelled out _Doctor_ and his voice sounded distant, _too_ far away...

The Doctor turned his head and saw the boy being dragged off into the distance, he saw fear in his eyes and his fingers trailed in the mud as he called to him again in terror.

"Don't fight them!" he shouted, wincing as the pain burned in his shoulder, "I'm coming to save you, I promise!"

" _Doctor!"_ Tommy called again, and then the darkness and gloom and distance closed off all sight of him, and the Doctor dragged himself to his feet, clutching at his painful arm. It was then he silently cursed at himself for not taking more care:

 _He had known that kid had wanted to see the creatures – at first he had been afraid, but that fear had been dampened down because he knew the Doctor would be with him, he had felt safe..._

 _Now he blamed himself._

 _He should have been more vigilant, he should have known he would be followed..._

The Doctor turned to the earthen wall and wanted to punch it, but he didn't, because his shoulder was definitely dislocated and right now he needed to fix that, because he couldn't do a thing for the boy until it was back in place and he had the use of his arm again.

"I'm not as young as I used to be," he muttered as he looked to a thick underground pipe that snaked down off the wall of the tunnel and ran deep below ground. He gave it a cautious tap with his good hand – it was definitely solid.

 _Solid enough to do the job..._

He turned his back to the wall and drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he braced himself for the pain that would follow. Then he smashed his shoulder against the pipe, gave a yell as bone clicked back into place and then he slumped against the wall breathing hard as he waited for the pain to stop throbbing.

The Doctor was still clutching at his arm as he opened his eyes again and looked down the dim tunnel. He focussed on the thought of the child lost in the darkness and surrounded by monsters. Tommy had wanted to see them, and now they were all around him.

 _And that wasn't good enough._

 _That really wouldn't do at all._

 _He had to go and get him out, and he had to do it now..._

* * *

Tommy was cold and his clothing was spattered with mud. He was up tight against the wall of the tunnel, right on the bend where the rest of the creatures were gathered... They looked like an ugly, slimy mess of a slippery tangle and their mouths (or was it faces?) were horrible, like something off the cover of a horror movie, the 18 rated kind that his mum wouldn't allow in the house in case they gave him nightmares...

Tommy felt sure when he grew up he would never have to worry about pretend monsters scaring him, not the fake ones, because here and now, he was seeing _real_ ones, and he could never forget what they looked like...

Then one of the creatures slithered forward, its wide mouth showing a round of sharp teeth, and it loomed closer as he shrank back.

" _Don't touch me!"_ he said tearfully as he wished for home and his room and his bed and even his mum telling him off, because he didn't want _this_. Most of all, he wished he had never crept down that slope and into the tunnel...

The wall of the tunnel felt cold and damp and the earth that was all around him smelled damp and horrible. The creatures _didn't_ smell. He had expected them to stink like dead fish, but they didn't do that at all and that was a huge relief. But still he wondered if he would ever see home again...

The creature was almost on him now, and he closed his eyes tightly and wondered if it would hurt to be eaten alive. He wished he had brought his hammer with him, too - maybe _then_ he would have stood a chance...

Then he opened his eyes, and as the creature stopped sniffing him and shifted back, looking at him with thoughtful interest reflecting in its many eyes, Tommy looked back at the creature.

And that was the moment that most of his fear melted away.

 _It didn't want to hurt him, but he wasn't sure why..._

* * *

It was a long way up the tunnel.

In their rush to get away, they had headed back towards the end of the drainage system, which dipped low down a tiny hole and ran beneath the house. Around it the earth had been disturbed, but those creatures could squeeze through tiny gaps, and the space was far too small to even think about trying to follow to see if more of them were down there. Around the edges of the hole the phosphorous was stuck fast to the entrance – a few of the creatures must have shed their skin slipping through – but when the Doctor peered inside, he saw no creatures within.

Of course not. They were up the other end of the tunnel with Tommy - and _that_ thought filled him with dread.

He turned back, his shoulder still vaguely aching as he made his way back through the mud ,walking in the gloomy, eerie glow of the shed skins as he headed back towards the far end of the drainage ditch. It frustrated him to think he was trying to get to that child as fast as he could but had to go slowly, because his shoulder was back in place and TimeLords healed fast but one slip now would put it back out again, and he wouldn't be so lucky a second time...

The Doctor kept his gaze fixed on the end of the tunnel. It was closer now.

He would get there, even though the way that creature had smashed him to the ground had left him stiff and bruised and covered in mud.

At least he was wearing protective clothing. His suit was safe. That thought made him briefly smile, but then the pale blue of his eyes turned to darkened steel and hardened as he thought about the situation:

He didn't know what those creatures would do with Tommy. He knew if he fought them they would kill him, and then they would taste human flesh for the first time. But there was a chance, and he was holding on to that chance, that perhaps, as they were intelligent creatures they would recognise him as young, like them, but different. They were all children together. If they knew that, perhaps he would still be alive by the time he found him - as long as he didn't fight them. These creatures stuck together like a small gang, and any perceived threat would be dealt with one way:

 _Destroying the source of attack..._

He put his hand up to his aching shoulder as he carefully made his way along the tunnel, looking to the end of it that was now in sight as he once again recalled the advice he had yelled to the boy as he was dragged away.

" _Please don't fight, them, Tommy,"_ he said quietly, _"Just don't fight them..."_

* * *

Tommy had started to shiver as he sat there in the damp tunnel. As the creatures shifted closer and began to curl up around him, he was surprised to find they felt warm, and now he understood why had had seen them in such a slimy tangle before - they huddled for warmth...

"Are you keeping me warm?" he asked quietly as another slimy body curled about, taking care to avoid grazing his skin with its spiky fin.

It raised its head and a rounded row of sharp teeth made a clicking noise, it looked at him, and then hugged a little tighter.

Tommy was being hugged _much_ tighter than before.

He hoped they didn't hug too tightly, because then it would hurt...

A thought ran through Tommy's mind about something he had read about boa constrictors, and he cancelled that thought fast, because he couldn't move, let alone make a run for it, and so far, he was following the Doctor's advice, too – he wasn't fighting them and for now they seemed happy to wrap themselves about him, almost like they knew he was cold and scared, and wanted to offer him comfort in the only way they could.

That was a nice thought, it was one he would hang on to until the Doctor came back for him.

Except for one thing:

He wished they didn't squeeze him as tightly as they did, because now it really was starting to _hurt._..

* * *

The Doctor was nearing the bend in the tunnel. Here the dim light from the shed skins of the creatures glowed a little brighter, making just enough light to enable him to see where he was going. He guessed this was just about all the light these creatures could take, given that they lived in the dark on the bottom of deep water lakes and rivers, in their world, the shed skins had _always_ been their method of lighting their habitat... He caught sight of a glistening tangle of bodies, the glow made them shine in the dim light and they moved slowly, snake-like as they huddled in a slime tangle.

As he got closer, he slowed his pace, treading softly as he neared the bend in in the tunnel. He didn't want to frighten them, because his sudden appearance would put them on alert, they would instantly sense a threat to their new underground world...

As the Doctor moved closer he caught sight of Tommy just around the corner, and he quickly stepped back and stood tight against the earthen wall, doing it fast even though the sudden movement had made his shoulder ache again. He couldn't allow them to see him yet, a sudden movement and... He couldn't even bear to _think_ about how those things would crush that boy to death in their rush to band together even tighter to face a perceived enemy...

The Doctor briefly thought of how this had meant to be a plan that was so simple, and if not for the boy, those creatures would be shrunk to the size of tadpoles and contained in water, and he would be back on the Tardis now, taking them far away to begin a life on an alien planet where they could live peacefully...

 _Humans._

 _They always interfered!_

But he couldn't be angry for long, because he had seen the look on Tommy's face - that poor boy was terrified, and he had every right to be, too...

He had seen the way they had wrapped themselves about him, too. They were trying to huddle him up like they huddled together as a colony – but they had a squeeze capable of killing him. If he moved, if he shivered...he was keeping still for now. He had to stay still if he wanted to get out of this alive...

The Doctor took a deep breath, closed his eyes briefly as he ran over his plan...

"Slowly and carefully," he said under his breath, reminding himself this had to be done softly, carefully and quietly, "Talk to them gently, they _can_ understand you..."

Then he hoped for the best and spoke aloud, addressing the creatures:

"I mean you no harm, I'm the Doctor and here to help. May I show myself?

And he heard a slick and rapid unwinding of glistening creature bodies and then Tommy breathed out in relief. The Doctor waited, knowing they had let him go for a brief moment as they listened to the sound of his voice.

"May I show myself? I mean you no harm and I want to help you find your way to a better home. I really can do that. Will you let me help you?"

He heard a clicking sound as the largest of the creatures raised its head, snake-like as round rolls of razor teeth snapped thoughtfully.

"I'm going to step out now so you can see me. I am not here to pose a threat, I come as a friend..."

The Doctor stepped out.

He saw Tommy huddled up against a damp wall of earth, he was surrounded by the creatures and looked terrified.

"Don't move until I say," he whispered, and the boy looked back at him with frightened eyes that brought to mind how Tommy had frozen at first sight of the creatures, and all the Doctor could do was silently hope that when he opened up the trap, he would be brave enough to jump clear, otherwise he would get sucked into the container along with the creatures...

The largest of the colony was still there, barring the way forward, its head swaying slightly as the round of sharp teeth clicked and chattered as it set its nine eyed gaze on him.

The Doctor looked past the creature to Tommy, who was surrounded by the smaller ones.

"I don't think they can understand me...I was hoping they would, but they can't. But that could be a good thing...listen...I have this device..."

He drew a clear, water-filled cylinder from his pocket and held it out.

"See this, Tommy? It's a clever device that can temporarily shrink the creatures to the size of tadpoles and pull them into this container. I can then seal it and take it to another planet, where they can be released back harmlessly into the wild. But as soon as I activate it, you _have_ to jump clear or you will get shrunk and dragged in too. Can you move quickly for me on the count of three?"

The boy gave a slight nod of his head, looking wide eyed at the Doctor as he remembered his warning about keeping still.

"Are you sure you can do it? You can't freeze, you can't let fear hold you to the spot because you _will_ get trapped too. I'm asking you again, can you do this?"

" _Yes,"_ Tommy whispered.

The Doctor held out the device.

"Good boy, that's what I want to hear. Be fast and get _out_. Don't be a tadpole..."

And the creatures slithered about whilst the leader still stood before him, teeth clicking as it watched him press a series of buttons on the side of the container.

"Ready?" he said in low voice as he cast a glance to Tommy, "Three, two...ONE!"

There was a flash of light that shot from the container, as strings of electrical lights glowed blue and hit the creatures as they shimmered and shivered. Tommy dived over the back of the largest one and hit the wall on the other side of the tunnel, sending a scattering of earth crumbling downwards.

Then the boy stared at the sight of the Doctor holding a container that glowed with a strange light, and strings of that light were wrapping around the creatures now, and they were struggling like worms on hooks and the power pulsed and they got smaller and smaller and smaller until they were all drawn into the stream of light, and it shot back into the container.

The light faded and the Doctor put the lid on tightly.

"One colony of Syrret Corrinth bottled!" he said.

The boy got up and walked over to him, looking cautiously at the creatures, now in miniature and swimming about in the container, all now the size of tadpoles.

"You got them!"

He started to smile and so did the Doctor.

"Yes I did!" he exclaimed, "And now I can take them to a new home where no one will ever disturb them again."

Then there was a flap and another flap, something was slapping at the muddy floor softly. They looked down to see one small creature, not quite as small as the others, flailing about helplessly in the mud.

And Tommy raised his foot, and the Doctor said nothing as the shadow of the boy's trainer lingered over the helpless creature. Then Tommy carefully stepped over it, then leant down and scooped it up in his hands.

"It must have got left behind," Tommy said as he watched it flapping about like a fish out of water, "We should put it in with the others."

"I knew you wouldn't kill it," the Doctor said as he smiled at Tommy, "Because you're kind. Because you're a human and they have such capacity for compassion."

"Plus it didn't kill me when it was bigger," Tommy replied as they turned back and began to walk down the tunnel towards the slope that led back to the garden, "Why didn't it kill me, Doctor? I thought it would when it dragged me away like that."

They were nearing the slope and the sight of the starlit sky above ground was a welcoming sight.

"I had a theory about that and I'm glad I was right – when we disturbed the colony, their instinct was to attack to protect themselves - but when they dragged you off they realised you had something in common with them – they are young, still children - and you are a child too. Just a different _kind_ of child to them. And they wanted to keep you warm, like they keep each other warm. Good thing I stopped them because they have a crush like a boa constrictor."

And then they reach the exit, and TimeLord and boy both breathed a relieved sigh to be close to the surface once more.

* * *

The Doctor went up the slope first, then he held out his hand to Tommy, who soon let go of it as he saw pain register on the Doctor's face as he tried to pull him back to the ground.

"I can manage," he told him, and he scrambled out of the hole.

"Good," the Doctor replied, "Because I'm still aching from what that creature did to my shoulder!"

Then Tommy watched as the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to close up the earth once more. There was a muddy patch, some missing grass, but nothing else to show of what had happened that night.

"No one will ever know," he said, putting the screwdriver away and stepping back from the sealed earth.

"I think we should put this one in with the others now," Tommy said, looking rather worried as the shrunken creature struggled and slipped about in his cupped hands.

The Doctor smiled, looking at the boy who would never judge a monster by appearance again.

"I think that one is a bit big for the container," he told him, "But I have a jam jar back at the Tardis. You can put him in that."

And the Doctor left by the back gate and stepped out into the alley and Tommy followed.

"What's a Tardis?" he asked.

The Doctor indicated to the blue box that stood at the end of the alley.

"That," he told him, "Is a Tardis. It's my ship and it looks small on the outside but its much bigger on the inside. And as you've been so very helpful tonight, I thought perhaps you might want to come with me on a quick trip to set these creatures free?"

As Tommy's eyes lit up with excitement, the Doctor smiled back at him.

"You're going to like this," he promised him, and then he led the way to the blue box as Tommy followed, taking care not to drop the shrunken creature that wriggled and flapped about in his hands as he wondered what an alien space ship would look like, and how it would feel to travel through space. He was only sure of one thing now and it cancelled out all the fears he once had about monsters – he knew he was safe because the Doctor was with him, and this was going to be the best trip of his life...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

" _Where are we going?"_

As he spoke, Tommy looked around him again, marvelling at the sheer size of the inside of the ship. By now the Doctor had taken off and the Tardis was travelling through space and time - and Tommy's gaze shifted from the view of colourful space where stars seemed to shine in every colour as they twinkled, to look about him again as he marvelled at the large ship, all contained inside a tiny box.

His hands were on the edge of the console and he looked at the jam jar and the container beside it as he watched the shrunken creatures swimming about like grey blurs as they darted about the water in confusion.

"We are going to a planet called Zaotania in the galaxy of Daglora. It's a lovely place with plenty of deep lakes, perfect for these creatures to settle down."

"But you said they don't know how to feed."

Tommy sounded worried, and it warmed his hearts to see that the boy whose idea of _catching one_ had once consisted of bashing its brains in with a hammer, was now worried that the poor things might starve.

"They will know what to do by instinct once in a suitable environment," he promised him, "as soon as they reach the deep water and bury themselves in the fine sediment, they will filter feed on microorganisms – they will be happy again."

"And when will they go back to their normal size?"

"As soon as I release them they will be carried out to the deepest point in the lake, the power stream will drop and they will be back to their proper size and in their new home."

Tommy looked to the little creature who had been left behind.

"What about him? He's not in the container with the others."

"He must have caught the charge and slipped out of its range. He was unlucky."

"Unlucky? Why?" Tommy asked.

"It means he's not part of the power containment that holds the others. He's small forever."

"So the others go back to normal and he stays tiny? Will he live?"

The Doctor looked at him and swiftly recalled that Tommy was no idiot and easily spotted his lies, so he gave him the truth.

"He will probably be eaten _very_ quickly by a passing fish."

The boy's eyes filled with sorrow as he watched the eel fish twist and turn and dart about in the jam jar.

"No, that's not fair."

"Of _course_ it is!" the Doctor exclaimed, "It's the way of life everywhere - a food chain, survival of the fittest, call it what you will – it all comes down to nature."

"But _you_ shrunk him and got it wrong. That _wasn't_ part of nature."

The Doctor gave a sigh.

"Point taken. Leave him here, when we land we'll set the rest of them free."

"And what about him?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, "Stop talking about _JamJar_ – he's just one eel. I've got a whole colony to release."

Tommy smiled.

" _JamJar_? You just gave him a _name_?"

The Doctor threw a lever and the Tardis landed.

"So what? It doesn't mean I care about one little eel fish when I have many others to save. Let's get the colony set free," he replied, avoiding his gaze as he picked up the container and headed for the door.

* * *

As Tommy stood at the edge of a lake where the water sparkled blue and all around green fields rolled off into the distance, he watched as the Doctor released the colony, witnessing the unbelievable as the column of light shot out and with it the colony of creatures that had been within. They were set free in a blaze of light and as they grew in that light, they twisted, turned and as the light faded out, they slipped into the water, where they dipped and rose gracefully before diving deep.

Then the Doctor and Tommy walked back to the Tardis, went inside, and the Tardis departed from the unsoiled planet, on course to return the boy to earth and his proper time and place.

* * *

On the way back, Tommy was quiet as he fixed his gaze on the creature in the jar.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I might find a little river somewhere, let it go free where there are no big fish."

He smiled.

Tommy did not.

"Stop lying, Doctor! I know what you want to do with it."

"I wasn't aware you were telepathic," he replied as annoyance crept into his voice, "But please enlighten me – what _am_ I going to do with it?"

"Dump it in a river, any river- it's so small it's going to get eaten anyway! Why can't you save it? You saved the others!"

The Doctor looked at him sadly.

"Because sometimes even clever technology like mine can't save everything and everyone. Nothing is perfect, Tommy. What would you do with the creature?"

"Keep it."

"No!"

"Why not?" the boy demanded.

"Because it's a prehistoric breed that your people believe died out a long time ago! Because it was partly exposed to the power field and can never be with its own kind again because it can't revert to normal size. Because one day it might even start to grow and then what? I'll tell you what, Tommy – if that thing suddenly started getting bigger, I don't think your mum would understand. And the last time I let someone keep a Syrret Corrinth it got so big they had to put it in a very deep place – and it soon drew attention to itself, it still does to this day. Have you heard of the Loch Ness Monster?"

Tommy looked at him in surprise.

"It's real?"

"Of course it's real, it's one of _those_ ," the Doctor exclaimed, pointing to the creature in the jam jar.

"But you don't know if it will ever get bigger, it might not," Tommy pointed out.

The Tardis was landing.

"Please," Tommy said as he looked up at the Doctor, "I'll look after him."

As the Tardis engines fell silent the Doctor looked kindly at Tommy.

"I think it's wonderful that you've come to see that not everything that looks like a monster is bad, I'm glad you've taken that message on board but you can't have this creature, I'm sorry. It needs to be returned to the wild."

Sadness reflected in the boy's eyes.

"Okay," Tommy said sadly, "But please promise me you'll find him a safe home. I know you'll try because you care about all life. I'm glad to know you're out there, keeping us safe from _real_ monsters."

His words had warmed his hearts.

"I will always look out for your world," he promised, "Now you'd better go home. It's almost sunrise. And please get cleaned up before your mum wakes up, and _don't_ go blaming the mud on your clothes on monsters, either! I think she's heard enough about those!"

He smiled.

"I won't ever talk about monsters to her again," he promised, "And thanks Doctor, it's been so much fun."

"Maybe I'll see you again one day," the Doctor replied, and then he watched as Tommy walked to the Tardis door.

As he reached up to open it, the Doctor called his name and Tommy glanced back.

"You're right," the Doctor told him kindly, "He _does_ need a good home."

And he picked up the jar and as Tommy ran back to the console, he handed it to him.

"I can't find a safe place for JamJar. But I know you'll take great care of him. He will live for a very long time. He needs river water and mud and a small tank. Change it once a week and please, _never_ put him in a pond or any kind of large tank just in case it encourages him to grow."

"If he does, I know what to do with him,"Tommy replied, "Loch Ness."

And he smiled and so did the Doctor.

"You'd better go before your mum wakes up," the Doctor reminded him.

"And more no talk of monsters," Tommy replied, "I know. I'm going back to the house, changing my clothes, all my muddy stuff is going in the washing machine and I won't even complain about being grounded for the rest of the week. There's an old fish tank in the cupboard under the stairs, I'm going to use it for JamJar."

"Where will you say he came from?" the Doctor wondered.

"I'll say I found him in the pond," he said, indicating to a small pond across the other side of the garden, "I'll tell mum a cat was trying to catch him. She won't mind me having a pet, he's so ugly she will feel sorry for him!"

And he laughed and the Doctor smiled again.

"I'm glad I met you, Tommy," he told him, "When children understand that not all monsters are bad, it gives me hope for the future."

And then he watched as Tommy left the Tardis carrying his new pet in the jar, and then he quickly departed, taking off into space as he carried with him new hope for future of humanity:

 _As long as humans thought as Tommy did, the Earth wouldn't be a bad place at all, it needed more kids like Tommy Taylor._

* * *

A few hours later, after the tank had been set up and JamJar was happily burrowing into the mud at the bottom of it, after his mum had stopped saying how sorry she felt for that _poor ugly fish_ , he sat alone in his room watching the creature as it settled into its new home.

Then he looked through the open window, turning his eyes skyward as he thought about that beautiful place called space that was far beyond the skies of Earth, and as he thought of space and all that might be out there, he realised he had come around to a new way of thinking, and it was something he was sure he would carry with him all of his life:

 _Yes, there were monsters, and some of them were bad and some of them were not – but it was okay to be afraid of the unknown, it was okay to fear what else might live in this universe, because good and bad was everywhere, but as long as he believed in the Doctor, he knew it would be okay, because the Doctor would always be out there, and the Doctor was a good man._

The End.

* * *

 **And now a word of thanks:**

 **I would like to thank my friend Rich for the idea for this story - it was so much fun to write and a whole new direction for my writing to go to, and I absolutely love your great ideas. Thank you so much for the spark that set my imagination alight to make this story :-)**


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